Friday, December 15, 2017

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

It's the holidays, and what better way to show some love than to bake some goodies to share with loved ones. Today, I'm doing a virtual cookie swap with some talented blogger babes. Make sure to check out each of their cookies at the end of this post!

If you've ever been to Levain Bakery in New York, you'll recognize this sweet treat. After trying this amazing cookie, I knew I had to figure out a way to recreate this at home since I live all the way on the other side of the country! I've tried quite a few other copycat recipes and have made some adjustments and adapted them for my own version. These are giant decadent cookies with an ooey gooey center. Scroll all the way down if you want to see how to make them!

I used my hand mixer to pull this recipe together, but a stand mixer will work also if you have one. How cute is the color of this mint KitchenAid Hand Mixer? I'm obsessed!

This recipe calls for cake flour, so I wanted to share what the box looked like in case you don't already have some. I found this at the top of the shelf, above the all-purpose flour at the grocery store.

In a mixing bowl, add butter and sugars. Cream until light and fluffy with a hand mixer, about 2 minutes. You can also use a stand mixer if you have one. Start on low speed and then switch to medium speed as it starts to cream together.

Add in eggs and mix on medium speed until incorporated.

Add in cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix on the lowest speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Careful not to overmix.

Add in walnuts and chocolate chips and mix on the lowest speed until all are evenly incorporated into the dough.

Mix dough with hands a few times to make sure chocolate chips and walnuts are evenly distributed. I like to use disposable gloves as the dough should be quite sticky.

Now, it's time to portion out the dough balls! You can either divide into 8 equal pieces, or I prefer to use a kitchen scale to weigh out the dough. Each dough ball should weigh 6 ounces.

Lightly form a very loose ball and place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. You should be able to fit 4 per sheet.

I usually lightly press the center of each to flatten the balls slightly. This allows for a more even bake.

Bake only one sheet at a time in the middle row of the oven, for about 13-15 minutes. The tops of the cookies should be a light brown and the dough should look cooked, but the inside of the cookies should not be fully set. Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack with a spatula to further set.

These cookies are dense and should be shared! They should still be ooey gooey inside even after you let them cook for at least 15 minutes. These cookies are best eaten warm.

Virtual Cookie Swap

Don't forget to check out the cookies of these talented blogger babes!